West 40 Dinnington 23

This was a must-win game against fellow strugglers Dinnington and win we did, scoring six tries in the process and making it two home wins in a row for the first time this season.

In attack we looked threatening throughout the game, with ball carriers in the forwards regularly crossing the gain line. The backs also looked more dangerous than in recent weeks but defensively it was more of a mixed bag with some periods of solid work but occasional lapses in concentration.

Dinnington had the first attack of the day and came away with early points thanks to a nice drop goal from fly-half Morgon Bunting. Gavin Painter should have answered back immediately with a simple penalty in-front of the posts but pushed it wide to the left. We did get on the board soon after though with Liam Checksfield bursting through a couple of tackles before feeding skipper Carl Miller to score the try, Painter converting.

Painter should have got us further in-front again after 12 minutes but pushed another penalty across the posts from a very kickable position and his long-range drop goal attempt from the restart fell well short. Dinnington took advantage and centre Tyle Stimpson caused problems with a driving run and chip ahead from half-way. We didn’t deal with the bouncing ball and although the initial surge for the line was halted short, simple passing along the line led to a walk-in for Ryan Donnelly.

Ryan Painter got us back in the lead soon after with two tries in 3 minutes. The first came from a 5-metre scrum with the defence seemingly expecting a number-eight pick-up the scrum-half was able to evade the covering tackler and stretch for the line. The second score took advantage of a good passage of play featuring Checksfield and Gavin Painter before Ryan finishing things off with a typical dart. Gavin converted both tries for a 21-10 lead.

Bunting pulled 3 points back with a penalty 5 minutes before the break but we responded immediately with a superbly finished try from Checksfield. The winger received the ball with only his opposite number to beat and went outside him in fine style before turning on the pace to ensure he wouldn’t be caught. Painter again converted for a half time score of 28-13 and the four try bonus point already secured.

When Will Hilditch scored 8 minutes into the second half it looked like we could run away with the game. The winger was the grateful recipient of two Dinnington players challenging each other for an up-and-under in their own in-goal area and the loose ball fell nicely for Hilditch to touch down. Rather than continue to rack up the tries the intensity level appeared to drop and Dinnington finished the final quarter the stronger side. They got a second try from a quick tap penalty and we needed a quick response from an Andy Turner try to keep any hopes of a fightback at bay.

Dinnington were now throwing caution to the wind and a hopeful boot upfield was well covered by Ryan Painter who collected and slid into touch only to throw the ball away and concede a penalty and ten minutes in the sin-bin. The visitors took full advantage and worked the position for a rolling maul try in the left corner – all thoughts now turning to looking for one more score in the 5 minutes of stoppage time to claim a bonus point. With only four points between the sides in the table at kick-off time the additional point would have seen Dinnington cling on to twelfth place but we held them out for a welcome and well deserved win.

The run up to Christmas will be a season defining one with this game followed by a trip to bottom side Northern next week then two successive home games. With one win in the bag we can hopefully keep the momentum going and pick up some more crucial points.

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